PC Telcom membership changes bylaws, reelects board members

    Roughly 10% of the PC Telcom membership was present at the cooperative’s April 9 annual meeting. To others in the industry, such a turnout is nearly unfathomable, board president Terry Andersen explained.
    PC Telcom sees above average participation already — perhaps due to the dinner served by Kristie’s Katering beforehand and the numerous prizes given at the end of the evening. Nevertheless, a resolution was presented to the membership with the goal of further increasing member involvement. It was passed, and the bylaws have been changed to allow for mail-in ballots in the future.
    Andersen emphasized that the board hopes to still see large turnouts for annual meetings in the future but that the change will enable members to have a voice even if they can’t be there in person.
    Also voted on last Tuesday were board members. John Schneider and Glenn Huwa were reelected to urban and rural seats respectively. Also still on the board are rural director Andersen, urban direction Jerry Brandt and at-large director Deb Williamson.
    
Kropp reviews 2018 highlights
    Also speaking to guests in the Holyoke High School auditorium following dinner in the gym was general manager Vince Kropp. As has been the trend for a few years now, the company saw a greater emphasis on broadband in 2018. Telephone customer numbers continue to decrease, while internet customers continue to increase.
    Also signifying changing demands, PC Telcom discontinued its cable TV services in July. In October, internet offerings were revised so that pricing begins at $34.95 per month.
    One of the larger projects last year was replacing leased internet routers in customers’ homes and businesses. The project is about 90% complete, and the new routers allow for greater connectivity and Wi-Fi speeds. Kropp also noted that the platform associated with the new routers is much easier to keep updated with current software.
    PC Telcom also won a bid in the Connect America Fund II Auction by the FCC. As a result, it will install fiber optics and electronics to a group of 21 census blocks immediately north of the company’s exchange boundary. It’s a very rural area, Kropp said, with less than one household per route mile of fiber. Installation is expected to begin this summer.
    Last year, PC Telcom also replaced the coaxial lines in Ovid with fiber optics, installed a new telecommunications shelter in Julesburg and allocated $342,385 in capital credit patronage for 2017.
    Providing its after-hours support with additional tools and visibility into the operating system led to the after-hours and off-site support team being able to successfully diagnose most problems on the first call. Escalations to PC Telcom technicians have been reduced, and trouble reports are being resolved faster.

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